After Google hangout, Narendra Modi goes 3D to launch poll campaign

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has a number of firsts under his belt. The 2007 elections saw him come out with the Modi mask, which he got it made in China. A few months ago, he became the first Indian politician to answer questions on Google Hangout. And on Sunday night, he added another first to his list when a virtual Modi addressed the masses simultaneously from four separate stages across Ahmedabad, Vadodra, Surat and Rajkot. He became the first Indian politician to use the technology to put up a 3-D show that mesmerised his supporters even as he tore through the Congress and sought a third term from Gujaratis on the basis of his government's performance.

Clad in his trade-mark half-sleeves kurta and a shawl hanging from his shoulder, Modi appeared out of thin air on the stage, sat on a chair and after a formal election song highlighting Gujarat's developmental strides was played out, he stood up, had a glass of water from a nearby table and then proceeded to rip apart the Congress for victimising his government by misusing the CBI, making false allegations against his government and defaming it and then committing fraud with the people by making false promises for the sake of votes. The only difference in all this was that it was not Modi but a life-size 3-D image of his that was making the speech while he himself was at his home in Gandhinagar.

A minor technical snag that hit thrice disrupted the sound connection leaving the people watching a voiceless Modi gesticulating. However, the snag was quickly repaired on all three occasions and the gathered crowds managed to hear most of his speech.

The snags, however, didn't dampen the audience's excitement as they were witnessing 3-D technology for the first time. Navjot Sidhu's presence only added to the excitement. In Ahmedabad, the venue was the Lalbag ground in Naranpura locality, a stronghold of the Patel community.

In his speech, Modi answered what he calls "questions from the falsehood factory of the Congress". His fiery speech, just a month ahead of the Gujarat elections, focused on Congress' repeated allegations that the Modi government had been giving large chunks of pasture land meant for cattle grazing to industrialists. Rattling off some mindboggling numbers, Modi put Congress in a bind.

He said his government had given only 4 per cent of pasture land for industrial purposes and that too in very unavoidable circumstances, however, the pasture land given to industrialists in South Gujarat by the Congress government between 1980 to1985 was almost 94 per cent of the total pasture land in that area. "I call upon the people of Gujarat to expose the falsehoods of the Congress by defeating it in the next polls. It is not the Congress but the CBI which is fighting the next election against us.

Earlier, the Congress, when it was all powerful, used to misuse Article 356 of the Constitution to overthrow opposition governments in the states. In this new age, misuse of Article 356 is not possible and so it is using the CBI," Modi said in an aggressive tone before adding: "But I may warn the Congress that Gujarat is the land of Sardar Patel and it will give an effective reply to these ugly moves."